you a selection of clothes. r t beginning of two or twenty second. this is r t tonight pro-government militias in libya keep up their deadly assault and see. former stronghold of bani walid with reports that chemical gas is being. america's global position is the topic for obama and romney funny turn on t.v. with the two tiering in the polls and voters having a tough time telling them apart go to in-depth coverage for you. plus fresh unrest reported in beirut with five injured after a weekend of violent clashes spot by the assassination of a senior intelligence official.

a peer monday night here in moscow this is our. names kevin are in with the top stories for you this hour first libyan a pro-government militias continuing to pound the besieged town of bani walid as the standoff over the gadhafi stronghold intensifies there are claims now the chemical gas is being used to meet fierce clashes on the outskirts of the town they've killed over twenty enough many more wounded hundreds of terrified families and fled their homes in ridiculous reports for. it seems like we find out something more and more terrible details every coming hour or so we know right now that there is a situation and while the which is in its eighteenth day off stage of being under this pressure from the government forces that step is getting only worse we have been in

contact the saudi people on the ground and they have given us they have provided this was from nation for us describing just how dire the situation is in a former gadhafi stronghold where out of a very very narrow group of them are going to be able to get their government prepared for that period of my work so i would before you know if there are going to be brought a proposal if you can about the book or. govern your book with very very obviously there are people who are wearing that heavy weaponry being used that there have been reports talking about some sort of gas also being used on the residents opt-out you've seen it for yourself model over the place people with body parts torn off and the situation seems to be getting worse and worse and the fighting seems to be densify and there have been residents of the town of fun while you could who are now in tripoli they marched on the government headquarters to protest the siege of their hometown and they were dispersed by the security

personnel for. our live ammunition heavy weaponry and air there were also protests and been gaz the people there stormed a television station which is that there are only an american owned television channel because they did not like equatorial of the events that are happening and funny while you are just the recent months there has been an attack on a u.s. embassy in which the bastard or west killed so you have these hotspots where you still have some of the gadhafi supporters you also have obviously been broken by troops fighting with them and then of course we must not forget about these groups which are all still radically spread out all over the which are links to al qaeda if there is absolutely no order there is chaos. nobody can tell you when it's going to stop and how. with the latest unrest also continues in lebanon too with a fresh exchange of fire reported in the capital it follows a weekend violent protests by the killing of a top security official which many play more neighboring syria but in

a few minutes one expert tells us is too dangerous to draw such conclusions. the final t.v. show downs living for barack obama or mitt romney they're running neck and neck right now and are expected to ramp up the rhetoric to secure those much needed last minute votes foreign policy will be in the frame later monday and as part of our tease in-depth coverage got if you can look at how much difference there really is between the two candidates as we're waiting for the debate on foreign policy the last debate before the election on november the states many see it as the make or break point for both campaigns because president obama and governor romney have so far been running neck and neck but whoever is elected america's next commander in chief will take on the same old foreign policy mission and that is to expand the country's influence in the world but is there that much daylight between the candidates let's try and find out the rhetoric of the romney team leaves no doubt that he advocates of more intrusive u.s. foreign policy we have to show strength in america that's perceived as weak as one that will be despised the one thing we all fear the most is

a weak america what can. an image of america the current administration is also striving for a robust america in their own way we came we saw he died. when folks mess with americans we go after the arab spring are full that the obama administration jumped on the bandwagon of the revolutions hoping to forge better all lines is with the new leaders. while prompting the change with airstrikes and arms supplies when anti-american protests spread across the muslim world some asked whether it's time for the u.s. to stop meddling in the middle east and north africa i don't see how how we could ever talk about divorcing ourselves from the region if the no other reason given the push in us policy you still have two primary drivers in terms of national interest and that is oil and israel president obama has strong allies like israel under the bus these three leaders open saber rattling to words in french has some

tension with the white house it's clear the american people don't want another costly and devastating war based on phony red lines but should israel decide to attack what would the two candidates do differently if it were to happen i don't think there's going to be much difference ultimately i understand and share this or not you know whose insistence that iran should not obtain a nuclear weapon my red line is iran may not have a nuclear weapon iran is a nuclear nation is unacceptable the united states president obama said exactly the same thing regarding obama's pivot into asia there's not much daylight between him and romney either the policy involves expanding u.s. military presence to act as a counterbalance against china's growing power and to advance u.s. interests in asia pacific candidate romney showed a willingness to take that pivot to another level ramping up the pressure on beijing i'll crack down on china having been stuck in this cold war mentality he

sees the world in very black and white terms so russia is a foe china is a foe it's almost as if the cold war war never ended and that regard the pivot toward asia makes perfect sense to mr romney and i really don't think he would change anything the rhetoric is the issue the the presence of subtlety or the lack of subtlety is a primary difference between mr romney and mr obama in relations with russia on. like romney for whom russia this is without question our number one geopolitical foe president obama avoids cold war rhetoric after all you don't call russia our number one enemy. not all kind of russia. unless you're still stuck in a cold war mind warp despite a more forthcoming official latitude the administration indicated that they would still forge ahead with plans to build a missile shield close to russia it's a longstanding sore point in the relations between the two countries moscow has

many times suggested resolving the issue by building the shields together to no avail i spoke with former bush administration official colonel lawrence wilkerson and asked him whether a change in the oval office could mean a drastic change in the way america deals with the world is a marvelous consistency in american foreign policy whether it's wrong headed which it has been much sense especially in one thousand nine hundred ninety the end of the cold war. but there is a marvelous consistency to it and that's because foreign policy is foreign policy and security so presidents say one thing and then come in and get briefed and they do another thing generally what they do is much like what the other party would do well even despite the consistency that u.s. foreign policy has shown over the years during the debate the candidates still have to outline their differences they can't just say good evening ladies and gentlemen we both agree on pretty much everything so let's call it a night so i'll be right here after the debate covering their efforts and also every monday will be zooming into one issue one big issue in our pretty special

series of pre-election reports make sure you don't miss that from washington i'm going to check out what dreams are gonna get if you can then as told to do all right if it's brian factories on the line for us brian going to bring to you here a long time campaign on you against america's foreign military campaigns because it is you see it would be the least war mongering indeed when i go to all thinks you predict the a when his policies would it change. well i think if we take the debate tonight and the reflective positions of the two candidates and staged it as a theatrical production we would we would borrow the words of william shakespeare and say it's much ado about nothing and the fact is as colonel wilkerson said in the package before us foreign policy regardless of whether the party in the white house is a republican for the democrats is well which in the system in the consistency is

based on central power structures in america that drive u.s. foreign policy people principally the military industrial complex and big oil twelve and i think we can see and expect that even though the rhetoric will be different and i their rhetoric will be different as it has been during the campaign that fundamentally the two candidates represent a foreign policy based on the new empire the american empire that superseded the british empire at the close of world war two and i think that's what we have to look forward to. g.m.t. this morning when it kicks off for both of bomber and dr romney as this plays as you say going to try to highlight the differences in how they see america in the world but because as you just mentioned the goal a lot of similar views of the combination of iran the support of israel how much difference is that really between the two candidates. well i think that there are some really differences in terms of what they're trying to do

in terms of positioning themselves for the electorate in these last two weeks romney is clearly pitching to the military industrial complex and big oil and some of their big banking backers of course that's a that's a question of appealing to power and appealing to money and so when he talks about russia being the primary photo of the united states that these ready to go to war or seems to be ready to go to war at a drop of the head against iran that he's condemning the their wish administration for creating a weaker america all of that is sort of a demagoguery designed to appeal to a particular power center in american politics they may not have most of the votes but the military industrial complex big oil the biggest banks they of course have a great. outsized influence in terms of the outcome of the elections and so that's what romney's trying to do he's trying to tell them even if we're going to cut tens of billions of dollars from social programs in a romney administration which they intend to do and they will under obama to that

nothing will be taken from the military industrial complex so it's sort of a naked appeal to the forces of militarism which of course are also the forces of big business in america want to pick your brain may not be on the menu to talk about tonight are there any foreign policy issues that neither candidate is going to want to touch to fund the. well there is a there's something that has to be understood about american politics because it is an empire because it is the dominant political and military and economic force in the world what happens in the world also impacts the american people so you see vietnam in the one nine hundred sixty s. and seventy's was a dominant part of the political consciousness here during the iraq invasion the american people turned against another war in a third world country and likewise now there's a majority opinion against afghanistan i think the candidates have to be very careful because while they want to position themselves as the best defenders of the

empire the best defenders of the military industrial complex they also have to recognize that the american people are sick and tired of war after war after war and sick and tired of having the national treasury drained so that tens of thousands hundreds of thousands of public sector workers jobs are lost but the military coffers keep growing and growing so they're in something of a vice but of course the media in america is so complicit with the media propaganda campaign of the military industrial complex i don't think we'll have many hard questions asked either candidate. we shall see will puns over one g.m.t. will be wall to brian becker antiwar activists like service about change. well turning on the t.v. that most americans are faced with the tools race not the full story the course the other options and if he's helping those known as the third party candidates to get some time to give voters a choice they'll take the stand live here. in the host of a big picture they guide you through.

this presidential election is not just about obama and romney there are also third party candidates on the ticket and they will influence its outcome see a debate among this nation's major third party candidates right here on r t like over twenty third. this is troubling kuwait the police of fired tear gas and made mass arrests this is tens of thousands protesting against electoral reform which they say will block opposition voices out of government for the report i'm up for you very shortly tonight i'm reporting to one pro independent progress in spain's bhaskar region there a separatist party's victories likely to break away calls over and go with nationalist territory so coming up after this break.

it's perched atop a jaw and the view from the ball scrabble and stretches as far as the i can see. for a city to siberia for centuries. it's lost its economic importance even before it was bypassed but a chance i bear in railway but the a spiritual sense. seems like these are a yearly occurrence thousands of also talks worship was implicit will to commemorate the baptismal jesus. in the fifteen eighties the russians had only just conquered siberia taking it from the muslims. surrounded by enemies to boles was to be their stronghold. constructed

on top of the city but soon enough it became an economic hub siberian was the oil of its time bringing in a third of all russia's state revenue put the ball scrimmage location help of the shoes for the russians the russian heiress a crowd a revolt against the czar and eight hundred twenty five known as the decembrists will stand there in droves there they created a replica high society adopting the latest fashions as soon as they came out or at least once they made it from paris to siberia. but the city also serves up some bit of irony for the russian royal family after the bolshevik revolution this is the office where the tsar nicholas the second spend most of the last year of his life his whole family had been exiled hare they were the fairly comfortable existence this was a big house but they weren't allowed to see visitors or go outside themselves whilst leaving the ordinary normal countryside lifestyle they even had thoughts of

a skate but within the year the czar and his family would be dead. hello again after three years toiling in opposition probably depends parties are back in power in spades basque region separatism calls are now expected to grow louder with madrid's of stereotype being the first in the firing line sloane a color still close as there is sociologist and pump up the university carlos good evening do end of the day frankly speaking see the country really gaining independence any time soon as a result of this election. well i don't know if it's going to be a result of this election this is the situation there is notably different than what it is in catalonia for example right now for years there has been work being

done on the ground to kind of set up the material conditions for independence that is the basque region had a more independent i guess tax system where there are taxpayer dollars taxpayer euros would go towards the basque region in about. you what we're seeing now is a shift in large part due to a rejection of the previous government the incumbent government which was composed of basically of the socialists and the. and heading back towards what used to be the main party. the sort of center right nationalist party but also the entry of a major player in the new formation which is to which is the previously well. the independent this left which four years prior had been illegal and this is their first time being able to present themselves in the regional elections so what we're seeing really is a major shift where the independent this radical left has become the second power

in the region how much is this being fueled this whole separatism issue which is being filled by the government's austerity drive is one of the biggest issue in your country right now. well it's difficult to say i mean the reason that there are these separatist feelings are because of history first and foremost the basque region has this is nothing new i mean we've seen. around for forty years and i mean that's during the democracy but they were also around during the franco's period and they've kind of always had this separatist view just like in certain regions of . certain and in catalonia as well it's really the result of spain being a country that is basically the project united under a crown that imposed one spanish national identity on several other communities with who have their own languages in their own histories what's going on now is the economic situation is weakening the central government so much that independence

now seems quite plausible and even favorable to the people in these regions so that's that's really the shift but it's not just economic factors there's a major major historical and cultural. i guess impetus behind what you're seeing today but watch it closely. appreciate it thanks for having me. it's a bird the deadly earthquake in spain last year could well have been manmade online no reporting only you research the place of water extraction disturbing a full line venture leaving nine people dead hundreds homeless. from the classics condensed is it possible to tell tolstoy's war and peace in a hundred forty characters that's the question what to do think you can and it's got a fiction festival to try and prove. a major security operations underway in lebanon to contain the violence that hit the country over the weekend of the killing of

a senior intelligence official the troops have been deployed in beirut as fresh gun fights and clashes reported monday the violence first erupted after general her son who was a strong critic of syria's president was killed in a car bombing on friday the opposition known as the march the fourteenth alliance blames damascus and the lebanese government for his death is protesters demanding the prime minister's resignation the army has called on politicians to be cautious when expressing their opinions which political analyst come or worse and he says the opposition's unlikely to do. this is not in new. was against syria and against bashar al assad so this is the same rendition that we heard before we have to weigh them versteeg asian and pacific asian should come quick and swift and all the acquisition for now aside and let the country heal i think the sec was asian it's a recipe just to take over the country by the march of fourteen i don't think this is going to happen this time around this has to stop otherwise we probably heading

for a very difficult time a very chaotic time of love and on and i don't know always going to be accountable for it and i don't think fourteen of marsh can handle it if they continue on a violent past because this will lead to a destruction of the country and to the stability of the. country and the and everybody will lose over in kuwait more than a hundred people have been injured when police used tear gas and stun grenades to break up a series of anti regime rallies tens of thousands to run in the capital against the metal reform which the opposition calls a constitutional clue which was significant hamper his chances of winning to assemble parliament to vote vote in reforms were announced after the emmet dissolved parliament which was going on by the opposition protests against the rumor now some by family which is a key u.s. ally who regularly to over yet but to eric drystone from stop imperialism dot com told us he thinks the not getting international attention there's

a washington strategic interest in keeping the regime in power. kuwait has long been a client state of the united states and more and more kuwait plays a central role in the g.c.c. the gulf cooperation council kuwait is being used as a weapon by the us foothold in that region along the persian gulf and kuwait continues to fill that role it's a country that we don't hear so much about in the headlines but it is very much part and parcel of us that gemini in the middle east the western media which is controlled by the same interests which control wall street the western media it's not in their interest to tell the story of bahrain or kuwait in bahrain the united states has military interests as well as political and propaganda interests bahrain is a client of the saudis which is in turn a client of the united states kuwait similarly is also a quiet state and for that reason you don't hear about rampant human rights abuses you know here about the attack on working people the way you do in places like

libya or syria which were long since on the u.s. get lists investigators say leading russian opposition figures hundred himself into police and admitted to plotting mass riots in the country. has now been arrested after a recent documentary aired in russia which claimed opposition members received millions of dollars from july june because mass unrest. but the opposition member of selves says he was tortured during questioning investigators a promise to look into that instance last week russian investigators launched criminal proceedings against another prominent opposition figure so the gay adult self for a documentary claimed that he and his friends including reza j.f. received millions of dollars to carry out orders from georgia. this is r.t. it's twenty four hours minutes past eight at night thanks me with this all the latest business with katie shortly.

wealthy british style. is not on the tires. and. markets finance scandal find out what's really happening to the global economy for a no holds barred look at the global financial headlines to name two crimes a report on our. culture is that so much different a huge business to find time to market turkey and its road ahead a little over a year ago turkey was being hailed as the new leader in model for the muslim world

among many turks the. me it is easy. to. say. you. just. should.

hello there welcome to business this hour russia's energy major ross nast will pay over sixty billion dollars to buy russia's third largest oil producer and k.b. b.p. will get twelve billion dollars in cash and about twenty percent and ross nab stock splits half of the company not all. explains the math of b.p. sign of things. the deal is shaping up to look like it's got two steps to it ross left is going to pay b.p. just over seventeen billion dollars in cash as well as provide some twelve point eight four percent of shares of the russian state oil company to b.p.

the second part of the deal is going to see b.p. use some four point eight billion dollars of the cash that rosneft are paying them in order to buy more shares of ross nash so eventually that should end up with b.p. owning just under twenty percent of shares nineteen point seven five percent to be exact of ross next shad's and now all these new poll explains how the dual change the global energy industry as a whole. and you can see behind me rose and the kremlin and this deal has been cooked up on the russian side by those two institutions and by anyone's reckoning it is a sizable deal the biggest in russian paper history the third biggest worldwide ever eagle searching c.e.o. roles we have says it will sixty one billion dollars this war of the full t.m. paid. it will create the world's largest publicly traded oil phone without his perspective expanded rosneft will have twenty seven billion barrels of oil in the.

exxon mobil's twenty five billion a petro china's twenty two billion it also changed the face of the industry here in russia growth get to seventy five percent and by the state where is teeing p.p.p. is privately so the acquisition is an effective renationalisation of parts of the oil industry and unwind the some of the chaotic privatization program that took place in the ninety nineties it's also in keeping with president putin's plan to create national champions is strategically important sites with nearly fifty percent of the country's oil output the in-laws rosneft will certainly be done so stay with small scale the markets closed in positive territory today with the one of the top performers at one point in the five and a half percent there were some currency fell against the fall scantly multi-year ice continues we found that six change race.